I agree Harriet. Women wear bras for all kinds of reasons. I have always worn one(a day bra around the house and an underwire outside), because my breasts are very sensitive and feel better "contained" in a bra. My younger sister goes braless most of the time and hers sag, spread and look like they are trying to get under her arm pits. I've told her if she would wear a decent bra, she would look 20 pounds lighter and 10 years younger. I can't even get serious about this "study". It was conducted by Men!

Did you also note the age of the women tested? They were 18-35! Of course they didn't have much sagging. They probably also skewed for non extremely large breasts, thinner build & have not born/nursed children. Due to body shape, I didn't start sagging until recently at almost 53 & 2 yrs post surgical menopause. Never needed much support but always wore a bra for modesty. Others in may family were sagging at under 35 even wearing bras most of the time due to different shape of breasts.

Some bras actually increase back/shoulder pain for me (usually T-back athletic styles, but not all of them, and even the ones that do, not every time). But even so, I'm like the other poster who wear bras for comfort as well as support. Just as my panties protect me from rubbing clothing, so do my bras. Sometimes I will even wear one to bed!

There is something to be said for muscle tone in your pectoral muscles - it can make the sagging less. But, if you look at cultures that don't wear bras (African/Pacific Islander) - they are much saggier!

It's been proven in other studies that bras do not prevent the breasts from becoming more saggy in general, meaning when you're not wearing them. That said, it's clear to anyone with eyes in their head that they sure help with it while you're still wearing them!

They must have also been not particularly full-chested. When I was 17, I was in an accident that put me in the hospital for two weeks. When my boyfriend visited, I once told him I was having mysterious shooting pains in my chest. He said, "Maybe it's because you're not wearing a bra." Oh yeah... That's exactly what it was. And I wasn't even wildly endowed, so... that article should be burned, not people's bras.

I have always wore a bra and still do. Most women wear the wrong size bra; good fitting ones are really expensive needlessly; the bra helps absorb sweat when working; helps hides the nipples in cold weather/air conditioned rooms. Working with patients in close encounters, I would be embarrassed to be bra-free. The nature of the supporting ligaments under the breast tissue degrade over time as all ligaments do, especially after pregnancy and nursing, as do the ligaments that hold the uterus. As the life span of humans continue to lengthen, so do our ligaments. I find bra free-women in public, especially, full-chested females, immodest, but then, I am prudish. I like a little mystery.

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